If you have ANA miles or transferable American Express Membership/SPG points, you might get a better value from ANA than ever before. Let’s just be clear: the redemption levels haven’t changed, but the cash outlay has, and in some cases — to the tune of hundreds of dollars!

Last week I reported that ANA has stopped adding fuel surcharges to flights on their Star Alliance partner Scandinavian Airlines. That’s a huge thing, IMHO, because finding Business Class award space on United or Air Canada is not an easy task.

It’s no secret that I love ANA Miles, even though they add YQ

ANA has a very good, Business Class friendly award chart for both their own flights and Star Alliance and other airline partners. In fact, it’s exactly Business Class where ANA shines – neither Economy nor First offer values vastly superior to U.S.-based frequent flyer programs, although there are exceptions to this rule.

Yet ANA does add fuel surcharges to its own flights and most of its partners flights, and I’ve probably got some ’splaining to do, considering how much I’ve bitched about those pesky scamcharges (usually coded by airlines as YQ).

Most people who aren’t travel agents and miles aficionados don’t care about fuel surcharges because a revenue ticket already contains them. Travel agents hate them because they get stiffed on commissions, and we, “enthusiasts,” hate them because they add a cash component to a supposedly free ticket. The fact that airlines keep getting away with this scam in most countries is mindblowing, because, seriously, those shenanigans shouldn’t be legal.

In 2016, after oil had gotten dirt cheap, ANA dropped its fuel surcharges. Not out of the goodness of its heart, mind you; rather there is a law in Japan prohibiting airlines from overcharging for fuel (and they have to apply for and receive permission from the government on a bimonthly basis). So, this lovely, legalized accounting scam perpetrated by nearly all European carriers is not legal in Japan, at least to the degree it’s practiced elsewhere.

Since 2016, however, the price of kerosene has risen, so Japanese airlines are at it again. Right now the cost of fuel surcharges adds $86 each way if your travel originates from North America. It’s not pleasant, but even a cheapskate like me can live with that.

if your flight to Japan originates in the U.S. you’ll pay the $86 fuel surcharge per segment in addition to taxes

UPDATE 10.26.18: Now $129

Let’s take the simplest redemption possible. 2 years ago, a roundtrip award flight between New York and Tokyo used to cost $85.39 in taxes and fees (no YQ). Now it costs ~$256 with ~$173 in fuel surcharges.

UPDATE 10.26.18: Now $342.15 with $258 in fuel surcharges.

Your fuel surcharge per roundtrip to Japan is $172 — 2 years ago it was a zero

So, that’s straightforward enough even though it sucks. Well, simple roundtrip flights are easy to figure out, but when you add connections, whatever YQ the airline charges defies logic sometimes. But don’t worry, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let’s take another look at the ANA fuel surcharges on their own flights and their partners’.

ANA fuel surcharges have changed

Yep, I know this may sound like a paradox after ANA reintroduced fuel surcharges to its own flights, but it’s true. I decided to compare ANA fuel surcharges today with what I found 2 years ago, and was amazed at the results. This is what I found (keep in mind, with ANA you pay the same fuel surcharges for all classes of service).

To compare apples with apples, I tried to find award space for the same flights exactly. When that was impossible, I tried to find the closest route.

Back then it felt very strange to me that ANA would remove fuel surcharges from its award tickets to Japan (according to the law), but leave them intact for some destinations beyond Japan. It was also weird that ANA would add fuel surcharges to partners that didn’t add them to their own flights, like Air New Zealand. I even tried to reach out to the airline to find out why, but never got a straight answer. It didn’t make any sense to me at all.

Well, these strange surcharges seem to be either drastically reduced or eliminated altogether. Which is no less strange considering that ANA does add fuel surcharges today – unlike 2 years ago.

UPDATE 10.26.18: Most surcharges have been back

ANA Fuel surcharges: changes for the worse

I wish I could report that all ANA changes are peachy and rosy, but I won’t lie. The weird thing is that the routes that had YQ 2 years ago now cost less, while some routes that didn’t have YQ back then – do get them added now. If there is any rhyme or reason to this, I’d surely like to know.

UPDATE 10.26.18: this is still true due to the increased fuel surcharges for round trip to Tokyo ($342.15 with $258 in YQ).

Whether I do or don’t understand the logic behind ANA YQ pricing (I don’t), it doesn’t really matter. The point is, if you want to add another city in Asia to your flight plan on ANA metal, it will cost you either less or roughly the same as a nonstop trip to Japan (with the exception of Beijing). And if you want to see 2 cities in Japan, it will cost you exactly the same.

ANA partners fuel surcharges

UPDATE 10.26.18: No more fuel surcharges on Air China for travel between North America and Asia!

Today Air China is your best bet for flying to Asia on ANA miles. Not only is there no fuel surcharges anymore, it also has great availability in Business and First. Note there is still a sizeable fuel surcharge added to Air China intra-Asia flights.

As I’ve mentioned before, ANA doesn’t add fuel surcharges to some partners, like United, Air Canada, Scandinavian, and Air New Zealand.

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Hi. My name is Andy Shuman. I'm an avid traveler, a travel and credit writer, and I'm the author of the bestselling Lazy Travelers Handbook series. My message is simple. Every American with good credit can travel for free. Not just cheap, but free! READ MORE